Man pleads guilty to running identity theft scheme in Southern California

A 49-year-old man pleaded guilty and was sentenced this week to identity theft to buy high-end vehicles from car dealerships in Southern California, including San Diego County, prosecutors say of State.

In a case filed by the California State Attorney General’s office, Jean Anthony Parret pleaded guilty on Tuesday to multiple counts of identity theft and robbery after he opened lines of credit and defrauded lenders in Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura and Riverside counties, according to a Justice Department press release. He also pleaded guilty to a special earlier strike allegation.

Additionally, he pleaded guilty to similar charges in cases filed in San Diego and Orange counties, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

The combined guilty pleas resulted in an 11-year prison sentence, authorities said.

In San Diego County, Parret was able to obtain two people’s driver’s licenses and social security information, as well as other identification, said Tanya Sierra, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Using this information, Parret purchased five high-end vehicles impersonating these individuals between December 2021 and January 2022. The dealerships were in Escondido, Mission Bay and Irvine. Those cases were included in the San Diego case because the victims were local, Sierra said.

A month later, Parret used the credentials of one of his previous local victims to purchase cars from dealerships in San Diego, Lemon Grove, and Santa Monica.

Four of the vehicles purchased with the credentials of San Diego County residents were never found, Sierra said.

Victims throughout Southern California included lenders, dealers and identity theft victims who lost about $400,000, DOJ officials said.